Hello and welcome to my new crazy build topic! 
Today we talk about another build that is somewhat supported by gear, albeit not directly. It is centered around… Drain Essence turned to Chaos! 
I know, sounds like “Why on Earth would someone do this? Is it some kind of a joke?”. I wish it was 
. But this item Mythical Cloth of Unspeakable Invocation - Items - Grim Dawn Item Database says otherwise. An arrogant challenger indeed. As if Crate said: “Come on, try building Chaos DE. You will never succeed!”. Devs did not know one thing though… I like building stupid stuff 
. And here are my results. Behold!
1. Grimtools link.
Overall Drain Essence is a pretty weak skill that is decent only for some dedicated sets (Uroboruuk, Chillwhisper etc.). It needs so much Chaos power. And Energy sustain. This is why I used my most despicable building method - “all-in-damage” (no offense to fellow builders that use similar approaches). Spirit dump, aggressive devotions (Dying God + Abomination). I look at this and ask myself: “So, how to play this? Dying every second?”. The truth is - the build still is playable and even does not break like glass from any decent hit. I do not want to say that it is immortal. But it is manageable to play.
2. In-game character stats.
general stats, only passive buffs and Blood of Dreeg are active. Damage Per Second is for DE
Drain Essence breakdown
magic stats
defense stats
3. Gear/Build explanation.
The gear I have chosen provides necessary conversions to make our DE chaotic, as well as skillpoints.
- Core items.
Weapon. Spark of Reality. +1 to both masteries, Aether-to-Chaos conversion, good modifiers for Spectral Binding. Strange but great weapon for so many meme builds.
Off-Hand. Fiend’s Resolve. Vitality and Aether-to-Chaos conversions, amazing proc, useful Mark of Torment modifier (Chaos RE is garbage, sorry, I tried that setup too
).
Belt. Sash of the Bloodlord. Fire and Vitality-to-Chaos conversions, great stats, proc is okay. Amazing item.
These three items together can convert DE and every Vitality/Aether/most part of Fire skills. So try getting the best possible rolls to enable our build! - Mandatory items.
Rings. Voidheart and Combustion Band. Usual Chaos RR rings, must-have for every Chaos setups without native RR (such as Cabalist).
Amulet. Conduit of Undying Whispers. +1 to Necromancer, more Chaos RR through Ill Omen (it beats RE in terms of damage and defense, because such build desperately needs to CC enemies). Look for Pierce/Aether/Bleeding Resistances.
Chest. Cloth of Unspeakable Invocation. The reason to make a build
. Nice stats for Vitality and Chaos DE casters, flat Chaos damage and Attack Speed to make you think about its dubious design 
.
Pants. Aleksander’s Legguards. +3 to Hungering Reach and Black Death. For all green MIs - look for OA, Pierce, Stun/Freeze Resistances (Demonic, of Cabal, of Shattered Reality, of the Void Harbinger affixes are all great).
Relic. Eldritch Pact. Cool Chaos relic with fully converted damaging proc, %Elemental Resistance and HP, regen included. Solael’s Decimation goes to trashcan since it aggroes mobs across entire map
.
Medal. Ilgor’s Eternal Vigil. Nice modifiers to DE, Decompositon skillpoints.
Shoulders. Moosilauke’s Pauldrons. +3 to DE, %Phys Res, %Casting Speed. I have old Impervious prefix with Pierce/Lightning resistances, it is not shown in GT.
Gloves. Riftwarped Grasp. Also nice modifiers to DE, important skillpoints, %Chaos Damage, OA, %Health and flat. They need %Casting Speed so much, Cabalist does not provide that stat in good numbers (only from Harbinger of Souls exclusive).
Boots. Voidwalker Footpads. Good Chaos boots with Sigil of Consumption skill points, Slow Resistance, DA and useful proc. - Can be changed.
Helmet. Ravager’s Dreadgaze. +1 to All Skills, huge %DA, its active skill is still garbage
. Any +1 to All Skills helmet works too (like Fettan Mask or Wreath of Souls).
Craft with Stun/Reduced Freeze Duration (bonus is provided by Malmouth blacksmith in Steelcap District) or whatever you want if your MIs have CC Res affixes.
About Resistance Reduction. Total amount is ~92% (-15% from modified Ill Omen, -10% from Voidheart proc, -8% from Combustion Band proc, -35% from Solael’s Witchblade constellation and flat 24 from Revenant constellation). For Chaos Damage type it is somewhat okay, I wish it could be better . Reaper and Benn are tough but doable, Fabius hurts much so be careful. Overall heay melee fighters are dangerous for us, do not try to be a hero and catch all punches at once 
.
4. Gameplay.
Always debuff enemies with Bloody Pox and Ill Omen to reduce their Damage output (and OA from Pox) as well as increase yours. Throw Sigils under enemies’ feet for some bit of healing and siphon their vital energy with DE. Uptime Blood of Dreeg, it heals you when leeching is not enough/possible. And, as usual, Mark of Torment for dire situations, Amatok for battlefield movement.
5. Videos.
Mad Queen.
Kra’Vall (do not stand in pools for too long).
Lokarr (dangerously hard, try avoiding his flame wave attacks (even at the cost of DPS)).
Conclusions? It is tough, but doable for some “basic” content . At least I beat Mogdrogen with it, it is something. Hope you had some fun reading this topic . Any feedback is welcome, of course.
Have a nice day!
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. All right, let us continue updating.